MULTAN - Inviting all political powers to join hands with the government for putting the country on the path to progress, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked them on Monday to propose a robust national development agenda and lend support to government for its accomplishment.
The premier made this offer while addressing the participants of inaugural ceremony of newly-built Multan International Airport.
The PM inaugurated the Rs 9 billion project, which was launched by the Gilani government. Former premier Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was especially invited to the function and he joined the prime minister on the stage.
The premier said that the development of any specific area also impacts the national economy but the development process required strong will and decision power, besides resources.
“The political leadership has exhibited the same spirit for elimination of terrorism from the country in terms of the National Action Plan,” he noted. He said the political and military leaders were on the same page in the commitment to eliminate terrorism and they would achieve success on every step if they continued to exhibit the same unity.
Premier Nawaz was of the opinion that infrastructure and communication system played key role in economic progress and the incumbent government took solid steps for this purpose. He said the foundation stone of the (airport) project was laid by Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and the current government accomplished it.
“If we continue to work like this and one government accomplishes the projects launched by its predecessors, the nation will continue to see the scenes of progress and prosperity,” he added.
Referring to Multan International Airport, the prime minister said that it would help boost exports from the region, and mangoes would be sent abroad by direct flights. He added that the exports of textile and sugar as well as handicrafts would also observe a considerable increase.
He said that south Punjab was neglected in the past but the current government focused on this area and launched a number of development projects. He said the future needs of the area should be kept in mind while planning development projects and therefore he doubled the number of bridges to four from two to be constructed on roads linking the airport to the city.
The premier disclosed that development projects worth Rs 29 billion had been launched in Multan and Rs 1.5 billion funds had been released for these schemes. He added that Multan was given mega projects in health and education sectors. “Shahbaz Sharif Hospital has been established at a cost of Rs 510 million, work on Rs 870 million kidney centre is underway while DHQ Hospital project is near completion, and drug testing laboratory has been extended with Rs 100 million additional funding,” he said while recounting the projects.
Shedding light on road projects, the PM said Multan would be connected to Karachi and Khyber by motorway.
“The Lahore-Multan Motorway will be completed at a cost of Rs 135 billion while Multan-Sukkur Motorway will cost Rs 242 billion,” he said. He said that work on Multan-Faisalabad Motorway would be completed very soon as the speed of work had been expedited. He said that Karachi and Lahore would be connected by Motorway and Rs 55 billion funds were released to buy land for this project. He declared that the Karachi-Lahore Motorway project would be completed by 2017 and added that the foundation stone for the launching of work on Karachi Hyderabad section of this project would be laid next month.
The prime minister announced that the government intended to add 10,000 megawatt electricity to national grid by the end of 2017 to overcome power crisis.
He also announced 32-kilometer-long Inner Ring Road for Multan and said that the funds would be provided by the federal government while this project would be executed by the Punjab government.
Agencies add: The prime minister visited various sections of the airport. He was briefed about the modern facilities by his Special Assistant on Aviation Shujaat Azim.